Dooper

Hey,

So I've had this tank running for about a month, in the tank during this time was 1 white tetra,1 serpae tetra, 1 penguin tetra and 1 glass tetra who died within 24 hours of getting him. Since then the white tetra and penguin have been removed as ther were very aggressive with other fish (realized they needed to be schooled). In there now I have 6 neon tetras and 1 serpae tetra as i havent found a home for him yet. I have done weekly water changes throughout the month the tank has been running and here are my values. Let me know what I should do! oh and I dont overfeed the fish (only 1 small feeding/day)

pH 6.8
ammonia 0.6
nitrite 0.3
nitrate 10

The last time I did a 25% water change was Monday (March 9)

Shawnie

you should change the water daily with prime, or stress coat+ (plus version only) until you have 0 ammonia and nitrites and under 20 nitrates....you are close because you have a nitrate reading!!!! daily changes are a must to keep the rest of the fishies safe from poisoning

Dooper

would Tetra Aqua Safe water conditioner work just the same?

Shawnie

unfortunately, thats only a water conditioner which is great for water changes, but while cycling ,you need to detox the ammonia and nitrites but still have them be there for the cycle process...prime or stress coat+ does that ...yours just gets rid of chlorine and other metals in the tap water

catfishlover123

I agree with Shawnee.

Dooper

I cant seem to find the Prime or Stress Coat plus at any of my pet stores, what would you guys suggest? It would take up to 1 week to get it via mail

Shawnie

what do you have for conditioner? can you get some ammolock?

Dooper

I may be able to get that yes, I think I saw that at the store

conditionar wise im just using tetra aquasafe for acquarium

Shawnie

ammo lock is suppose to be reformulated so it does the same thing as prime...if they have it, you can use that with your daily changes...and use the aquasafe until you can get either you wont need your conditioner after you get one

Dooper

ok sweet thanks! So what should I be aiming my nitrates for and how do i keep them in check to ensure things are working properly?

slamddakota99

just get pirahnas they'll take care of all ur problems and their very hardy fish!!! make sure u get red bellies cuz their really pretty :P

Shawnie

in a ten gallon tank? You gotta be kidding!!!


once you get it just daily water changes until the ammonia and nitrites are 0 ...if you have a planted tank, you may or may not see nitrates but they should be under 20

Dooper

not a planted tank, so i should aim to keep the nitrates under 20?

Shawnie

yeps

slamddakota99

i actually started off with 3 baby red belly pirahnas in a 10gallon and when they started to show red/orangish coloring on their bellies i got my 55gallon then they grew really fast!!!!!

Iron waffle

If you move them to a bigger tank after, then that's ok.

Shawnie

IMO no piranha belongs in a 10 gal ...especially 3 of them...but thats me
to each their own!

slamddakota99

darlin....they were about as big as a neon tetra if not smaller at that time LOL....they were really tiny

Dooper

question, If using water declorinator to add the new water on my water changes, how long must I let the water sit once it has been treatted? Is it instant, or must it sit for 12-24 hrs?

agabr123

i know with prime you only need to let it sit for a minute or so, you also don't want to let it sit for too long because you want to get it as close to the temperature of the water in the tank as possible

slamddakota99

just use R/O water :P